It's something we talk about often. I haven't spoken with Buddy about it today, but I do know that Jake has had five days off instead of four in between starts in each of the past three turns in the rotation, and he only threw 97 pitches six days ago. Due to that, my guess is that Buddy felt he had a little more room to work with today.

It sounds like Dykstra's avascular necrosis is worse than anyone had anticipated. I would much rather have the compensatory pick in the next draft.

Kipnis is a fourth rounder asking for at least $600,000 over slot. That's big money for a 4th rounder. He either doesn't want to play for the Padres or a big league club yet so he can cash out next year, or wants to finish his education.

Mooneyham made it clear he wasn't going to sign with anyone and wants to go to school. He's looking for the big payout at a later date.

Considering how many first rounders have gone unsigned so far this year, I think the Padres have done great, especially with the international signings.

LeBlanc has only allowed 3 runs in the past 32 innings and Ramos 3 runs in 30.2 innings.

I say those are hot arms. The minor leagues are about learning as much as results. I think the learning curve was the first half of the season, now the results are starting to show.

The thing that makes Dykstra less dissappointing is the fact that they get a pick in 2009, but there is nothing to show for Kipnis, a 4th rounder is a high pick. If the kid was a risk of signing, the Padres should have used thier #3 pick on him and selected Sawyer Carroll with the #4, he was a senior with little leverage as opposed to a sophmore eligible.

Christopher,

Players fall down on boards because of signability not necesarily talent. Kipnis had a .337 avg in his first year in Kentucky and an obp close to .450

I say you pay him, there is enough upside.

Mooneyham is a very good pitching talent, you can buy him out of the scholarship by giving him a nice bonus and also paying for his education, he can study once he is done with baseball.

If you have to pay above the collusion rate, you pay it, specially if you are going to build from within.

Paul:Once today passes, are you free to talk about not signing these picks means for the team next year? For example, I know the team will receive #23 overall(and not just a compensation pick) for Dykstra. However, what about the other picks? Does the team end up getting a 4th Round pick for Kipnis as well?

Furthermore, with so much 1st round talent not signing and appearing to either head back to school, etc., does that mean next year's draft could be extremely deep? I mean theoretically the Padres could have the 1st or 3rd overall, and the 23rd and a draft with a ton of talent. Does that make not signing some of these picks more alluring?

I think the issue with offering Mooneyham 1.4M(which is about what the #20 pick receives) is that he was rated the top LHP in the draft out of high school....those guys go in the top 10 and warrant the 2M that Boras is asking for.

I'll be very disappointed in the organization if they lose both Dykstra and Mooneyham. Shouldn't we be trying to add significant talent in the draft, if we are then why would the 2 most talented guys picked not be signed?

One thing I really don't want to hear: that the international signings affected our ability to sign these kids. Where did the 3M or so saved from trading Wolf go? Wouldn't it have been smarter to give Maddux to the Dodgers for nothing and sign your draft picks with the savings?

Maybe it's just a last place year, but seeing 1st round picks blow up every year isn't very much fun.

Current reports are that the Padres entire worry on Dykstra is his hip. I'd been hoping that the medical exam found something else, because if you're worried about the hip, it's a crushing indictment of the supposedly revamped Padre scouting system. It's better for Dykstra because apparently there's nothing else wrong with him. For all the talk about the new Padres drafting process, this looks an awful lot like another dropped ball. Didn't anybody bother to look up "avascular necrosis?" Do the Padre offices not have internet access?

Gee, Sandy, I wonder why people "pop off" about some Padre picks. Were the makeup questions about Cole, Chisenall, Collier, or whomever REALLY more worrying than a hip injury that even the most basic research should have warned you about?